Novel: The Bonjour Gene

“Captivating…from the regretful assimilator to the Latina apprehensive of El Barrio…”(3)

“…adds a new dimension to our understanding what it is to be a Latino…” (4)

“…sets a new standard for Latino fiction.”(5)

Edited by Irene Vilar, author of Impossible Motherhood, Preface by David Huddle

Edgar Bonjour, at middle age and after rising to a suburban family life, started drug-trafficking with a motorcycle gang from his old South Bronx neighborhood and ended up dead. The published news of his murder sets the stage for introspection among other Bonjours, even those who did not know him, who interpret his returning to the past by way of a young woman gang member as the work of their family curse.
Descended from three French brothers who settled in Puerto Rico, Bonjours now belong to extended branches, some settled in New York City. Removed in varying degrees, all remain connected by the lore that only one island family possesses that surname, and that starting with the three brothers–sowers of a legacy of adultery and abandonment–every Bonjour male carries a reckless, womanizing gene.

1. David Huddle, from the Introduction
2. Carmen Dolores Hernández, El Nuevo Día
3. Kjerstin Pugh, Gathering of the Tribes
4. Rosario Ferré, author of The House by the Lagoon
5. Lisa Paravisini, Vassar College